News
Dear Applicants,
Deadline for the applications was on 31st of December 2003!
Please note that our office has registered and is processing the validity of your application (s). We regret that we cannot satisfy your claim immediately due to the time consuming nature of this process. The entire compensation procedure is likely to take at least another 12 months. If there are additional documents needed for your claim or if we consider that your claim is not entitled to compensation we will contact you within the next few months. In order to help us to have a clear understanding of your case we kindly ask you to send us a short narrative explaining the background and circumstances of your family's claim (unless you already provided this with your application).You can obtain the latest information on the compensation procedure either at our web site or by contacting our office as shown at the top of this letter.
Thank you for your kind understanding.
Statement
Statement of the Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities
in the Slovak Republic (CUJRC) about the process of partial
material compensations of the victims of the Holocaust in SR.
The first meetings of the Council for the compensation of the victims of the Holocaust and the Allocation Committee of the CUJRC were held on 26 November 2002 and 12 December 2002. The Statutes of the Council and the rules for the process of distribution were discussed.
The process of partial compensations of the victims of the Holocaust in SR will provide financial contributions:
a. to persons to mitigate some material damages caused by the Holocaust, to persons to whom their property has not been returned or in any other way compensated
b. for social, cultural, and health care with a special emphasis on Holocaust survivors
c. for the reconstruction and maintenance of immovable and movable Jewish property in the territory of SR.
d. for projects serving the honoured memory of the victims of Holocaust
e. to promote social and educational activities in the field of Judaism.
The Council and ÚZ ŽNO are pleased to inform persons who suffered material losses on immovable properties as the result of the Holocaust that they can submit preliminary applications for partial compensations according to the paragraph a) of this statement at the following address:
ÚZ ŽNO v SR
Kozia 21,
81447 Bratislava,
SR (Slovakia)
Fax: +421(2)5441 1106
The application must include: the name and the surname of the applicant (the relevant persons are the living owners, their spouse, parents, children), description of the properties.
The form of the application is not given.
On the basis of written applications the applicants will be informed about the further activities. Submitting preliminary applications concerns only applicants according to the paragraph a), the public will be informed in time about the proceedings concerning the other paragraphs.
The deadline for submitting the preliminary applications is by 30 June 2003.
In Bratislava 20 December 2002
Please read the updated INFO.
Information
The Council for the Compensation of Holocaust Victims
Information on Providing Contributions
Program for Compensating Individuals
The goal of the program for physical entities
In response to the resolution No 1027 of the government SR of 18th September 2002, the Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities (ÚZ ŽNO) established the Council for the Compensation of Holocaust Victims (Council) . Its goal is to coordinate and control the process of the compensation of the Holocaust victims in SR. The Council Office, based in Bratislava, is the executive body of the Council..
The Government SR, following the above mentioned resolution, approved the transfer of 850 mil. SKK in favour of the Central Union of Jewish Religious Communities for the partial compensation of the Holocaust victims in SR. Among the Council´s goals is to provide symbolical financial compensations to physical entities (or their successors) whose real estate properties were "Aryanisated” during the WWII on the territory of the present Slovak Republic by the authorities of the war-time Slovak State and the Horthy Hungary whose property was not returned in the context of valid restitution legislation and international agreements and who did not receive any other form of compensation for such property. Pursuant to the government proposal and the decision by the Council´s founder, one third of the funds (283.3 mil. SKK) provided on the basis of the resolution of the government SR have been made available to fulfil this goal.
Who is entitled to these financial contributors
· Original owners
Persons who, as a result of racial persecution, lost title to real estate in those regions which now make up the Slovak Republic between 2nd November 1938 to 8th May 1945, as a result of the transfer or transition of such title, declared as invalid by the President of the Republic in Decree no. 5/1945 Coll., or Act no. 128/1946 Coll., where such title was not restored to them nor compensated
in any other manner – e.g. on the basis of international compensation agreements closed between Czechoslovakia, respectively CSSR, CSFR and a number of countries (for example, with Great Britain in 1949 and 1982, with Italy in 1966, Canada in 1973, Austria in 1974, the USA in 1982) – and who were not legally entitled to the restitution of such title or financial compensation on the basis of restitution legislation after 1989 in Czechoslovakia or the Slovak Republic. People who have applied for the restitution of property, but are still awaiting the results of legal proceedings concerning the restitution of this property, can also apply for a financial contribution.
· The rightful successors to original owners
Surviving husband/wife, parents, children, grandchildren or the other successors (please specify) of the original owner can also submit an application.
Where to obtain application forms for contributions or receive more information
Application forms for contributions and further information can be obtained:
· by sending a written request to the following address:
Kancelária Rady
P. O. BOX 115
820 05 Bratislava 25
Slovak Republic
· in person, during office hours (Monday, Tuesday, Friday 9-15) at the Council Office, Záhradnícka ul. 93, 1st floor, room 114, Bratislava
· by phone: +421-2-55421680
· by sending a request by fax to: +421-2-55421771
· by e-mail:office@holocaustslovakia.sk
· at the web site : www.holocaustslovakia.sk
· at any Embassy of the Slovak Republic
Verbal information is provided in Slovak and English. Written information is available in Slovak and English. The application form is available in Slovak and English – the completed application form is also accepted in these languages.
What facts need to be corroborated
· It must be shown that the original owner of the real estate was the victim of racial persecution between 2nd November 1938 to 8th May 1945. This means that due to racial persecution this person had to, for example, leave Slovakia, was imprisoned in a concentration camp or ghetto, was forced to remain in hiding to escape imprisonment, etc. Such facts can, for example, be corroborated by an attestation pursuant to Act no. 255/1946 Coll., and other documents issued by Czechoslovakian state authorities, confirmation of the Jewish descent of affected persons, period documents, or other documents, including written testimonials and so on.
· The property in question must be identified as precisely as possible (ideally by an extract from the cadastre) and the history of the person’s ownership must be documented. This can be corroborated by the decision to dispossess the owner of this property, for confiscation, documents from inheritance proceedings, the contract of sale and other documents on measures by which the person’s property was confiscated.
· Further, all information and documents on applications for restitution or compensation made to date must be submitted (e.g. applications for wartime damages and damages caused by extraordinary circumstances based on Decree no. 54 Coll., issued by the President of the Republic on 31.8.1945, or restitution proceedings pursuant to Act no. 128/1946 Coll., applications for compensation pursuant to international compensation agreements, applications for compensation and the return of the property in question based on restitution legislation after 1989.
· It is recommended the value of the property at the time of confiscation also be included (at prices valid at the time of the confiscation), based either on surviving documentation (valuations) or a justified estimate by the applicant.
· Where the applicant is not the original owner of the property, he/she must corroborate their family connection to the original owner (e.g. marriage certificate, birth certificate, and other official documents). A death certificate or other official document attesting to the death of the original owner must also be supplied.
What formal requirements must the application for a contribution include
· Completed application form
As part of the application form, it is essential the applicant also sign a "Statutory Declaration" stating:
· that the confiscated property has not been returned to the original owner nor to his/her legal successor, nor has he/she received any form or amount of compensation for this property; if the confiscated property is returned to the applicant after he/she has received a financial contribution from Council funds and the value of this property is the same or higher than the financial contribution received from Council funds, he/she undertakes to return the financial contribution in full; if the confiscated property is subsequently returned or the applicant receives financial compensation from another source which is less than the financial contribution received from the Council, the recipient undertakes to return a part of the financial contribution received from the Council equal to the amount of the compensation received,
· he/she authorises the Council, or persons authorised by them, to look into documents and search archives or any other collections of documents and databases in the Slovak Republic and abroad, for the purposes of finding supplementary documents to support the applicant’s claims as submitted to the Council, or to check the verity of data provided by him/her
· that he/she agrees to the processing of their personal details pursuant to Act no. 428/2002 Coll., of the Slovak Republic, on the Protection of Personal Data.
· The application must include the applicant’s certified signature.
· Institutions recognised for the verification of signatures are notaries (in the case of foreign applications, a transcript of the notary’s licence must also be submitted), consular representatives of the Slovak Republic, registrars, certification offices at district/regional authorities or authorised municipal authorities, the head of medical or social service facilities in locations where the applicant has lived long term.
· The application must include copies of relevant documents
· corroborating the reasons for the application (a list of which shall be included in section 7 of the application).
this must always include an extract from the cadastre (giving the location of the real estate; the cadastre is kept by individual regional Land Registry Offices; extracts can be requested by correspondence by sending an application together with stamp duty), a copy of the applicant’s birth certificate, in cases where the original owner is no longer living, a copy of the death certificate and documents showing the applicant’s family connection (or other relationship) to the original owner, corroboration of the applicant’s ownership of the property in question;
of these documents, copies of documents corroborating the applicant’s family connection to the original owner must be officially certified.
As an illustration, we have included an example of documents which may be used to corroborate facts presented in the Application (this list is not, and cannot be, exhaustive):
The applicant’s identification papers, documents corroborating the applicant’s family connection to the original owner, an extract from the cadastre, an attestation pursuant to Act no. 255/1946 Coll., and other documents issued by Czechoslovakian state authorities, confirmation of the Jewish descent of the affected person, period documents, written testimonials, a copy of the decision for confiscation, contract of sale, documents from inheritance proceedings, the last will and testament. Applications for wartime damages and damages caused by extraordinary circumstances based on Decree no. 54 Coll. issued by the President of the Republic on 31.8.1945, documents concerning restitution proceedings pursuant to Act no. 128/1946 Coll., applications for compensation based on international compensation agreements, applications for compensation and the return of the property in question based on restitution legislation after 1989, etc.
· The application must be completed in Slovak or English.
· A separate application must be completed for each individual real estate property. If an applicant is submitting applications for more than one real estate property, his/her signature need only be certified on one application.
Do not send original documents, only copies.
Applications which do not meet the aforementioned requirements will not be taken into consideration by the Council.
Where can applicants send their applications
Applications for a financial contribution are only accepted on official application forms entitled, "Application for a financial contribution from the Council funds, payable to physical entities as mitigation for some of the property injustices caused by the Holocaust", at the following address:
· Kancelária Rady
P. O. BOX 115
820 05 Bratislava 25
Slovak Republic
or at Embassies of the Slovak Republic (clearly marking on the envelope, "Pre : Kancelária Rady, P.O.BOX 115 820 05 Bratislava 25, SR).
What is the closing date for applications
Applications, including appendices, must be submitted by 31st Decdember 2003 (this is the last possible date for sending applications by mail or for handing applications in at embassies) at the aforementioned address or at any embassy of the Slovak Republic.
Only those persons who submit an application within this deadline will be entitled to receive a financial contribution from the Council.
In the event that certain documents are discovered after 31.8.2003, it may be possible to amend the application (after consultation with the Council office) even after the closing date.
What if the applicant does not have the required documents
In cases where an applicant does not have the required documents to corroborate data in the application, the Council office will offer advise to applicants in the question of where to search for such documents and on communication with archives.
Where there are serious reasons for applicants not being able to acquire certain documents, Council employees shall try to find such documents (on the basis of the authorisation included in the statutory declaration, which is part of the application).
How will the contribution be paid
After the closing date for the submission of applications (31.8.2003), applications which meet all prescribed requirements shall be assessed; the Council administrative board shall subsequently propose the manner in which individual payments shall be calculated and decide on the allocation of financial contributions. The amount of each contribution shall depend on the points awarded in the assessment of individual applications, which should reflect the value of the real estate property.
Where more than one child of the original owner submits an application, the benefit shall be divided between them equally. If the Council pays out a financial contribution to only one of several children of the original owner (e.g. because it was not aware of the existence of the others), it is assumed that the other children shall come to an agreement with the recipient of the financial contribution on its adequate division. The Council is not responsible for such division.
All applicants shall be informed in writing of the assessment of their application. In the event of an affirmative assessment of their application, appended to this letter will be two copies of a contract for the provision of a financial contribution, which the applicant must sign and send back to the Council address. The financial contribution shall then be paid out.
The Council contribution paid out as part of this program is a humanitarian gesture on the part of the Government of the Slovak Republic to victims of the Holocaust and their heirs.
There is no legal claim to this contribution.
An application for this contribution leaves the applicant free to pursue the restitution of the property in question (restoration of title to the property) on the basis of restitution legislation.
In Bratislava on 10 January 2003.